Sports
Football

Three wins for Pitbulls

Portage Pitbulls terminator player Darien Schaan takes a ball to the end zone during action against the Crescentwood Grizzlies at Republic of Manitobah Park on Sunday. (Dan Falloon/Portage Daily Graphic)

The Portage Pitbulls enjoyed their first taste of home cooking this weekend.

They'll surely be asking for seconds.

All three senior teams pulled off wins, as the bantams blanked St. James 30-0, the atoms beat Charleswood 48-18, and the peewees got past Charleswood 51-39.

The terminators, meanwhile, showed well in their game against Crescentwood.

Atom coach Miles Irwin said his charges played well as a unit in their big win.

"The thing that I like most about our kids is a lot of them are playing really hard and we're not just relying on two or three players to carry the load," said Irwin. "We're getting consistent play from our players right across the whole board.

"We really don't have any weak spots on our team."

Irwin felt the team didn't start well on Sunday, but was able to refocus and get on track before the game was our of reach.

"We started a little sluggish. It just didn't seem like we were into the game too well," said Irwin. "The first quarter was really close and we were marching back and forth.

"We just started slowly getting better and better every drive and more guys were playing to the whistle every play. By midway of the second quarter, we had quite a lead on them."

The bantams, meanwhile, limited the St. James offence dramatically, keeping the visitors away from paydirt.

"Our defence pretty much dominated," said head coach Dave McLeod. "I'm not sure the Rods got more than five first downs the whole game."

Though Portage is 2-0, McLeod is keeping the start in perspective.

"Overall, at this point, we've played two pretty weak teams," said McLeod. "I'm trying to keep a level head about it.

"We have much tougher competition coming up in the next few weeks. It's nice to get the win, but we have to remember that these are some pretty weak teams we're playing at this point.

"It'll get a little tougher, but that's not to say we won't still win. It just might not be 30-0 in every game coming up."

Brandon Friesen had three touchdowns for the Pitbulls, while Michael Watson, Blaine Park, and Gage Foster each had singles.

The terminators, meanwhile, had a back-and-forth affair with the Crescentwood Grizzlies.

Coach John Ferg liked the look of the club.

"The team played good together. They tackled, supported each other," said Ferg.

Ferg said the team's defence really impressed, boosting its performance from Week 1 to Week 2.

"The improvement, I think, from last week was that our defence played a little stronger," said Ferg. "We were able to hold them.

"Our defence had two interceptions today and one was run back for a touchdown. That was really the tipping point of the game in the first half."

Reese Hanneson had both interceptions, while Dayson Campbell charged up the defence with his tackling.

For more, please see Wednesday's edition of the Portage Daily Graphic.